Prohibition+6

Intro The 1920s was a time in America’s history of excitement. This is why they called it the Roaring Twenties. The 18th Amendment was recently passed prohibiting the buying and selling of alcohol. This Amendment led to Bootleggers selling their alcohol in illegal bars called speakeasies. During the twenties the crime rate was high, largely because of the abundant gangsters and mobsters. These gangsters included the infamous Al Capone and Charlie Luciano. There were many violent events during this time like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. In order to stop these criminals the government created G-men; undercover law enforcers whose job was to take down gangsters. The Roaring Twenties was a time of great excitement in American history.

VOCAB:

Speakeasies: speakeasies were illegal establishments selling alcohol during the ban of alcohol in the United States from 1919-1933. G-MEN: G-men were short for government agents who worked for the FBI or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, known years ago as the BOI or Bureau of Investigation. Gangsters: A gangster is a man who affiliates himself with an organized crime group, and often participates in criminal activity. St. Valentines Day Massacre: This massacre took place Feb 14th 1929 in Nnorth Side Chicago. Al Capones gang took out 7 members of their rival "Bugs" Moran's gang. 7 men were killed and shattered with bullets. Bootlegging: bootlegging was known as the illegal manufacturing, trasnportation, or sale of liquor during prohibtion from 1919-1933.

__** St. Valentines Day Massacre [[image:http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/arresting-tales/St%20Valentine%27s%20garage.jpg width="318" height="184"]] **__
** February 14th 1929, Valentine’s Day, went down in history, not just as a day where love conquered. That day went down as the day where one of America’s biggest massacre’s took place, the St. Valentines Day massacre as it’s called. ** ** It started off as a normal Valentine’s Day in North Side Chicago nothing out of the ordinary. Al Capone, the biggest mob boss in the city was out of town in Florida. Capone being a mobster told his boy’s weeks before V-DAY that he wanted them to plan a hit on his rival gang’s leader, George “bugs” Moran. ** ** Capone being in Florida assigned his right hand man, Jack McGurn to plan the murder, and McGurn did just that. **

** February 14th 1929. The day had come for the hit to be carried out. In a downtown garage were 7 members of Bugs Moran’s gang. The members of Capone’s gang assumed one of those men was Moran himself. But they were incorrect. So the hit started with two of Capon’s member dressing up as police officers, and driving to the garage in a hijacked police car. Then the “police” acted as if they were on a routine investigation, and willingly Moran’s men allowed the police officers to disarm them and put them against the wall. Then two more members of Capone’s gang jumped out and mowed the men down, spraying bullets everywhere. Quickly the 4 men assuming they had killed Moran dashed out of there leaving the bodies. The car was recovered burning after a member set it on fire to destroy evidence. Moran himself saw the police car drive into the garage which is why he walked into the opposite direction with his guards. The hit of course was not successful in killing Moran, but the killers were never caught, and the case went cold. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre… 7 men dead, the killers, never brought to justice. **

** -Jeffrey Horowitz **

__CITATIONS:__ " St Valentines day massacre." //St. Valentine's Day Massacre with Pictures - 1929 - Al Capone True Crime Story//. mysterynet.com, 1998. Web. 14 Mar 2011. []. " St Valentines day Massacre." //St. Valentines Day Massacre//. about.com, 2011. Web. [].


 * pietrusza, david. //the roaring twenties//. san diego: lucent books, 1998. Print.

During the 1920s one of the most exciting places was the speakeasies. Speakeasies were bars that sold alcohol illegally because of the 18th Amendment. In the Roaring 20s speakeasies were the center of many people’s social lives. Speakeasies like the Cotton Club would be the home of many famous musicians like Duke Ellington. Many gangster could be found in speakeasies like Al Capone who ran Room 21 in Chicago and Owen “the Killer” Madden who owned Cotton Club in Harlem. The 18th Amendment was passed in 1917; its purpose was to end drinking in America. Although it made the buying and selling alcohol illegal, it unintentionally made it more popular. Some people considered drinking fashionable because it was illegal. Speakeasies were the place where people went to drink. In Harlem the Cotton Club was one of the main cultural hotspots during the Harlem Renaissance. Famous musicians played there like Duke Ellington Speakeasies were also the place where many crimes were committed. The famous St. Valentines Day Massacre was located outside Room 21. The reason why there was so much criminal activity around speakeasies was because many gangsters ran the places. The infamous mobster Al Capone ran Room 21 in Chicago and Owen “The Killer” Madden owned the Cotton Club in Harlem. During the 1920s speakeasies was one of the most exciting places around. 

Citation: Hakim, Joy. //A History of US//. New York: 1993. Print Freeman, Alex. "Chicago in the 20s: Eat and Drink Mafia-Style." N.p., Oct. 7, 2008. Web. 14 Mar 2011. []. Boland, Jesse. "During the Harlem Renaissance The Cotton Club was one of the most famous nightclubs in history." N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Mar 2011. [].

=__ Gangsters﻿ __=

During the 1920's there were many people joining gangs and becoming __gangsters__. Gangsters in the 1920's were seen in the public eye as having nice cars, wealth, nice clothing, and women. Also they were generally known for being __bootleggers__ and killers. They were the ones who supplied beer and alcohol to speakeasies and could charge a lot for it. Also, they would kill pretty much anyone they wanted to.

__Al Capone __
 Al Capone was one of the most famous gangsters in the U.S. He was known as Scarface because he was slashed in a gang fight. He built a criminal empire in Chicago. He was one of the most powerful men in the business. He could do whatever he wanted which led to him killing anyone he wanted. Nobody could stop him because he would kill or threaten all of the witnesses. During the St. Valentines massacre Al Capone and his gang members shot all of the people to end it. It didn't seem like anyone could stop him. He was eventually taken down by a man named Elliot Ness for tax evasion.

= __Charlie "Lucky" Luciano __ =



Lucky Luciano was another famous gangster. He was the leader of the Five Point Gang. He was mostly famous for starting murder for hire. This is how he made his money. People would pay him to kill people. He was willing to kill anyone for the right price. Soon other gangs were using the murder for hire concept. He made his way to the top by killing the people in higher positions then him. He killed his first boss Masseria and he planned to keep doing this until he got to the top. He was also untouchable except for when he was kidnapped and mugged by Carlo Giuseppe. He was taken down for prostitution and had to serve 30-50 years.

=__Citations__=


 * __Boland, Jesse. "The 1920s: Fashion in The Jazz Age." //1920's Fashion and Music.com//. N.p., 2010. Web. 14 Mar 2011. <[]>. __
 * __Alphonse Capone (1899-1947)." //Mr. Capone//. Free CSS Templates, 2006. Web. 14 Mar 2011. <[]>. __
 * "need, know, accomplish." //about.com//. the new york times company, 2011. Web. 14 Mar 2011. <[]>.


 * pietrusza, david. //the roaring twenties//. san diego: lucent books, 1998. Print.

**__ G- MEN, J. Edgar Hoover, and Eliot Ness __** By Bram Ziltzer

J. Edgar Hoover was the head of the FBI during the prohibition era. He helped to get rid of gangs illegally using alcohol. Prohibition was the illegalization of all alcohol in the US. The officials that worked for him were also called G-Men ([] ). Prohibition fueled the growth of gangs and organized crime. J. Edgar Hoover used the Al Capone case to increase the power of the FBI. Before that time, he tried to keep secret the fact that it was very easy to bribe his G-Men[]. 

Elliot Ness and the Untouchables was a team that specifically fought against illegal alcohol trade. They weren’t part of the FBI but were associated with them. His agency was undermanned, underfunded, and not pressured to work hard enough. At least one of them was corrupted. Ness is most known for shutting down the multi-million dollar breweries owned by Al Capone. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Citations ** · <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">Collier, Christopher, and James Collier. //Progessivism, the Great Depression, and the New Deal//. New York City: Benchmark Books, 2001. Print.

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">· <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">Gianoulis, Tina. "J. Edgar Hoover." //BNet//. CBS Interactive, 29, Jan,2002. Web. [].

· <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt;">Hanson, David. "Bureau of Prohibition." N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2011. [].

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">· <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">"G-Man." Farlex, n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2011. [].

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">· <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">"The Untouchables- Eliot Ness and Prohibition." //Squidoo//. Squidoo, n.d. Web. 14 Mar 2011. [].

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">· <span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; line-height: 115%;">Wack, Larry. "Faded Glory: Dusty Roads of an FBI Era." Squarespace, n.d. Web. <http://historicalgmen.squarespace.com/hoover-eliot-ness-the-untouch/>.